Wonderful Thing

Last year Intimate Dream self-released their own six-track EP Wonderful Thing. Based out of Minneapolis, the classic rock group draws largely from 70's and 80's bands as inspiration for their music. This album is undoubtedly a labor of love from vocalist/guitarist Hugh Faulds who formerly worked as a realtor in the Twin Cities area. Now pursuing his passion, Faulds and the band have created an eclectic bunch of tunes on Wonderful Thing that longtime rock listeners will enjoy not only the songs themselves, but the genres that inspired them as well.

Title track "Wonderful Thing" features simple lyrics and introduced me to the killer guitar work of Faulds. Some folks may find the track a bit hokey, but they probably didn't enjoy 70's rock in the first place. On the band's Facebook page, Faulds revealed that he wrote "Wonderful Thing" after the girl he was texting for a month stopped talking to him for a few days (later he found out that her phone had actually been stolen).

The great guitars continue on "In Your Head" before Intimate Dreams slows things down on "Mine Alone." The latter track is your typical rock ballad with a nice little riff added on for good measure. That being said, the loud feedback at the end of the love song should have been left out. The band channels Ziggy Stardust on "Space Girl" where Faulds sings about "..red lips on a crew-cutted face." The song includes a somewhat derogatory line I won't repeat here that really should have been removed.

"Slow Down" is Intimate Dream's version of piano rock a la Jerry Lee Lewis. Not exactly my cup of tea, but some might enjoy it. The EP ends on a high note with an a capella version of "Wonderful Thing." The song works amazingly well and is actually my preferred version of the two. Outside of a few production hiccups, Wonderful Thing is worthy of a listen by rock fans who embrace the genre's past. Recommended.